Which Tolkien child became the literary executor and editor of his father’s posthumous works?

Christopher Tolkien became the literary executor and editor of his father’s posthumous works.

After J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, Christopher organized, edited, and published material from his father’s extensive papers. His work included The Silmarillion, published in 1977, and later collections such as Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth.

Christopher’s role was more complex than simply preparing finished manuscripts for printing. Tolkien’s papers contained drafts, variant passages, linguistic notes, maps, and unfinished narratives. Christopher had to compare versions and decide how to present material that his father had not prepared as a final book.

The other Tolkien children had important roles in the family and in preserving their father’s legacy, but Christopher was the principal editor of the posthumous literary corpus. His editorial decisions shaped how later generations encountered the wider history of Middle-earth, while also making clear that some published texts were assembled from incomplete or changing sources.